“Can you really do something like that?”
“There are some items I’ve never heard of before…”
“We don’t know how to grow them.”
The farmers raised questions after hearing Kent’s explanation.
“I will prepare the seeds and seedlings. I will take several days to explain how to grow them, so please all remember them carefully. Of course, I will leave them in writing, so you can refer to them when you don’t understand or feel anxious. If things go well, I think your lives will improve considerably.”
With that, Kent decided to start with sweet potatoes, which are said to be suitable for improving the food situation.
“First, I plan to start cultivating a type of potato called sweet potato. I would like you to cultivate this area from this plot to that plot as a sweet potato field. My apologies, but please gather here again with your tools.”
Kent decided to start with sweet potatoes, which are relatively easy to cultivate. He told the farmers to go get their tools, dismissed the attendants, and decided to prepare the base camp in the meantime.
“I need to prepare while I have the chance…”
Kent took out his terminal and ordered a large quantity of sweet potato seedlings. He also decided to order the necessary tools for cultivation.
“Alright, I’ll cultivate the designated area.”
“Al, please.”
Al can somewhat understand what Kent is thinking, so he moves as expected without needing detailed explanations (though he sometimes goes overboard). He is a great help. When Al said that, he skillfully used his tentacle-like vines, which he normally uses for attacks, to cultivate the area designated for sweet potatoes, leaving only a small part. If this work were to be done manually, it would take several days with the current number of people, but he finished the work before the farmers returned.
The farmers returned with hoes for cultivating the fields, but they were surprised to see that the fields had already been mostly cultivated.
“Now that I’ve done some of the preparations, I’d like you all to do the tilling here.”
Following Kent’s instructions, the farmers picked up their hoes and started working. However, since only a small area was tilled by the current number of people, the work was quickly finished.
“Thank you all for your hard work. Now, you will plant these sweet potato seedlings in the planned cultivation area. The method is…”
Kent explained how to plant sweet potato seedlings as he demonstrated. Caro was taking notes on the situation. This notebook was intended to be compiled later into a manual describing the cultivation methods.
The work involves burying the seedlings in the soil, and it seems it can only be done by hand. Kent and Caro also joined the farmers and helped with the work. The mayor, perhaps due to his anxiety, was observing the situation while breaking out in a cold sweat. By the way, Al was given a break because he had worked so hard.
The work was carried out under the scorching sun, with breaks interspersed, and was finished by sunset. The meeting was adjourned for the day, and everyone was asked to gather again the next morning for the next task.
“I’m tired today.”
“Me too.”
After dinner, Kent and Caro returned to their hut. They thought it would be best to get some rest in preparation for tomorrow, as they had been busy all day.
“Master, Lady Caro. Please do your best again tonight.”
“Ehhh!!”
At Al’s words, the two of them simultaneously voiced their discontent. In the end, they had to work late into the night.
“It’s morning already…”
“It’s morning indeed…”
Unable to fully recover from their fatigue, Kent and Caro moved their heavy bodies and decided to get up as morning arrived.
“Master, Lady Caro! Good morning. Let’s get right to it today!”
Al, whose magic power had been absorbed and was now lustrous, said. Another long day was about to begin.
“Good morning, everyone. I look forward to working with you today.”
Kent greeted the farmers who had gathered since early in the morning. However, the farmers seemed concerned about the odd state of the field.
“Now, we have used a special method to accelerate growth. Therefore, the work you will do today will be harvesting.”
“Ehhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
The farmers exclaimed in surprise. No one had ever heard of harvesting seedlings planted the previous day the very next day. They were all in a state of astonishment.
Kent, Caro, and Al had arrived at the location before the farmers gathered. And with Al’s growth promotion ability, they had made the sweet potato seedlings large enough to be harvested. Kent got the idea from seeing Al and Catherine tending their home garden. The issue was the range of Al’s ability. He himself said that abilities vary from person to person, but as a guideline, low-ranking fairies can affect their building and grounds, mid-ranking fairies can affect a village, town, or small territory, and high-ranking fairies can affect a medium-sized country. He also mentioned that the effect weakens when the range is widened, so balancing this is important. This time, dividing the farmland into multiple plots was not only for risk diversification in case of crop failure but also to effectively activate the ability.
Farmers were generally mobilized on a one-per-household basis, but harvesting was a different matter, apparently involving the entire family. The farmers hurriedly returned to their homes, and everyone who could work, including children, gathered. As a result, more than enough personnel were gathered, and the harvesting work proceeded smoothly.
“Still, this is an amazing amount.”
Kent said as he looked at the harvested sweet potatoes. However, today’s work was not over yet. If they wanted to continue cultivating, this was the important part.
“Now, using these harvested crops, I will teach you how to propagate sweet potatoes, and from now on, you will be responsible for this.”
Kent selected seed potatoes from the harvested sweet potatoes and taught them how to make seedlings. Sweet potatoes are said to be resistant to continuous cultivation of the same variety, which causes soil exhaustion. By repeating this, they should be able to harvest sweet potatoes stably, so Kent believed the food situation would improve considerably.
“Al, well then, could you advance this pile by 10 days?”
“Understood.”
Seizing an opportunity, Kent gave Al instructions. Al followed the instructions and used his growth promotion ability on one of the piles of sweet potatoes, advancing it by 10 days.
“Now, the harvested sweet potatoes will be stored for about one to two weeks as they are. However, I understand that you may not know how to eat them, so I will provide cooking examples, and I would like you to think of various ways to prepare them based on that.”
While saying this, Kent prepared for cooking.
“Now, here are a pot, stones, and this time we will use charcoal, but firewood will also work. Lay stones in the pot like this and heat it.”
He placed the pot over the heat and proceeded to the next task.
“These sweet potatoes have been mellowed for about 10 days using a special method. Wash them carefully with water to remove the dirt. Then, put them in the pot…”
He occasionally rotated the sweet potatoes and cooked them for about an hour.
“There, it’s done! There are portions for everyone, so please try tasting them. Be careful, as they are hot when you eat them.”
With that, Kent and Caro divided the finished product and distributed it to everyone gathered. Those who brought it to their mouths exclaimed in surprise.
“What is this? I’ve never eaten anything this sweet before.”
“It’s delicious, I could eat more than a few.”
“To think that such a taste can be achieved with such simple cooking.”
Judging by the farmers’ reactions, it seemed to be a positive experience.
“Mr. Kent… this is delicious. This is sure to become a popular item.”
Caro, who was tasting it along with the farmers, looked satisfied.
“Well then, the piles here are already aged, so you can take them home with you. These portions you take home today will not be collected as taxes, as it is the Deputy Lord’s intention, so please rest assured. Tomorrow, we will proceed with cultivating a different crop, so I look forward to your continued cooperation.”
With the large amounts of sweet potatoes, the farmers returned to their homes, satisfied that a new food source had been secured.
